This invention relates generally to seating and, more specifically, to vehicle seating.
Major airlines have long had the consideration of the accommodation of adults as one of the principal factors in cabin layout. Recently however, both the airline and the automotive industries have become sensitive to the shortcomings of adult seating for the accommodation of infants. Little bodies are not well protected against movement in the course of 16 G acceleration by seats designed for adults.
Recently, several seats have been designed with an integrated child seat. Among these are, for example, those described in United States patents granted to Dukatz, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,684), Handa, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,833), and to Lambert, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,662). These patents describe an adult seat that can be reconfigured to serve as an integrated child""s seat. However, these seats lack accommodation for the smallest of passengers, that is infants.
Therefore, there exists an unmet need in the art for a seat that can be configured to safely accommodate, alternately, an adult, a child, and an infant.
The invention provides a seat back cushion assembly for a vehicle. The assembly includes a cushion frame configured to pivotally attach to a seat frame to form a seat assembly. A first seat cushion is rotatably and slidingly attached to the cushion frame and configured to rotate from a first position to a second position and to slide from a second position to a third position such that, in the first position, the first seat cushion is configured to receive an infant and in the second and third positions, to serve as a cushion seat back. A second seat cushion is configured to rotate from a fourth position to cooperate with the first seat cushion to form a seat for receiving a child to fifth position where the second seat cushion cooperates with the first cushion in the third position to form a seat back for an adult.